Wallace Herbertson
Wallace is an inventor, the main protagonist and half of the title duo of Wallace & Gromit. He is also the owner and best friend of Gromit. He delights in creating elaborate contraptions that often don't work as intended. He is a self-proclaimed genius, evident from his exclamation when he discovers Hutch's borrowed skill, a talent for all things mechanical. Most of Wallace's inventions look not unlike the designs of Heath Robinson and Rube Goldberg; creator Nick Park has said of Wallace that all his inventions are designed around the principle of "using a sledgehammer to crack a nut". He is also very eccentric and funny, and is always willing to provide a good laugh or listen to one himself. He also likes crackers, describing them as "cracking". He also likes tea in the afternoon and is shown to have a liking to toast for breakfast; he describes toast in The Wrong Trousers as "cracking" as well. The thought of Lancashire hotpot keeps him going in a crisis. He enjoys a nice cup of tea or a drop of Bordeaux red for those special occasions. He reads the Morning Post, the Afternoon Post and the Evening Post and occasionally Ay-Up!, which is a parody of Hello!magazine. Some of Wallace's contraptions actually are based on a real-life invention. For example, Wallace's method of getting up in the morning incorporates a bed that tips over to wake up its owner, an invention that was exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 by Theophilus Carter, and is similar to a device sold in Japan that is used to ensure a certain wakeup time. The jelly-toast contraption that gives him breakfast in the morning also bears a similarity to a Rube Goldberg -type machine, with the ability to do more than one thing at the same time. His versatile nature and inventor abilities have caused him to be hired for a wide variety of jobs. In A Close Shave, he was a window cleaner along with Gromit. In The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, he was a pest controller, and in A Matter of Loaf and Death, he was a baker. Personality A brilliant inventor who is slightly airheaded when confronted with certain problems, and with one or two screws loose, Wallace is a kind-hearted, friendly, funny and eccentric man and an avid lover of cheese (particularly with crackers). Aside from his near-genius intellect and an expert intricate inventor which are normally quite complex for the situation he created the machine to deal with in the first place. The two more well-known of Wallace's inventions are his moon rocket and the Techno Trousers he gave for his best friend Gromit's birthday. But despite this, Wallace can be quite gullible at times this was most obvious when he went to the moon thinking that it was made out of cheese and actually ate a slice of moon rock. He often eschews conventional methods of tackling simple problems in favour of employing stupid-elaborate contraptions, with very mixed results. He's also brilliant but lazy, often employing his vast intellect to make his life easier and for convenience sake. Wallace is a very highly-strung and energetic individual who is prone to emotional outbursts and melodramatic behaviour. When sufficiently excited or anxious his famous compulsive urge emerges, in which he clenches his fists and flaps his hands, often while repeating himself. Despite being eccentric, Wallace has shown signs of bravery and heroic actions when he saves Lady Tottington from being threatened by Victor Quartermaine and became so dedicated to her. He shows his bond for Gromit when he sacrificed himself to save him from falling but he was later brought back to life by Gromit by using a slice of stinking bishop cheese. Wallace has a romantic side when in A Close Shave, he fell in love with Wendolene Ramsbottom who became his first love interest. After he learns that she is allergic to cheese, he ended his love affair with her, but possibly remained friends with her. His second love interest was Lady Tottington who the latter tells him to call her "Totty". His third love interest was Piella Bakewell, but it ended when she revealed herself as the serial killer and was later eaten by crocodiles while trying to escape justice. Wallace remembers all three though, it is possible that Lady Tottington is now his current love interest. He has a kindly nature, and is perhaps a little over-optimistic. At times he can be inadvertently selfish and inconsiderate, but always means well and has a good heart. His creator, Nick Park described Wallace as "He's a very self-contained figure. A very homely sort who doesn't mind the odd adventure." Wallace is loosely based on Park's father, whom he described in a radio interview as "an incurable tinkerer." He described one of his father's constructions, a combination of a beach hut and trailer, having curtains in the windows, bookshelves on the walls, and full-sized furniture bolted to the floor. Appearance Wallace can be seen wearing a pair of brown wool trousers, a white shirt, a red tie and a green knitted pullover. He is slender and has fair skin. In his home, he wears slippers but when outdoors, he wears black shoes. When he was younger, he had brown hair and a moustache but when he got older, his hair had slightly disappeared but he had a tuft of hair when he was in a picture with Gromit (on his graduation from Dogwarts University) by now, Wallace is bald. In The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, due to him eating too much cheese, Wallace gained a bulk build, but after eating loads of vegetables (in Were-Rabbit form) he had gone a little thinner and after he got rid of his Were-Rabbit curse, he probably slowed down his cheese appetite to avoid getting a bulk build. In the first photo shown on The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, it was revealed that once, when Gromit was little, Wallace had much hair and moustache and, on the photo that shows Gromit's graduation from "Dogwarts University", Wallace had lost his moustache, but still had a little hair. The reason behind Wallace's loss of hair is unknown. In A Matter of Loaf and Death, when Wallace is talking to Gromit, a picture is seen behind Gromit of Wallace with a brown moustache and brown hair. Trivia *Wallace was originally a postman named Jerry, but Nick Park felt the name did not fit with Gromit. *Wallace has a different look in A Grand Day Out, his top of his head is smaller, bigger ears and his mouth is not so wide. *In 2009, Nick Park said Wallace is born on 7 August 1959, So Wallace is currently 59 years old. *Wallace made a cameo appearance in the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends episode "Ticket to Rod" and was seen in Nana's 2nd photo panting alongside Gromit and Ginger with a case of an astronaut suit in A Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper. 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